The weather has been a critical problem for the worldwide populations. The most of the weather forecasts were based on mathematical models of the atmosphere. In 1936 Vilho Väisälä, a meteorologist specialist in research on the upper layers of the atmosphere, founded the Vaisala Oyi company which works in the field of the electronics and measurement instrumentations.
The most important discovery was the radiometeorograph. This electronic device became feasible only at the end of the 1920s when the radio valves became sufficiently miniaturized. When Väisälä founded his own company the radiometeorograph was already patented and in phase of testing for the industrialization.
The purpose of this measurement device was the weather forecast through the investigation of the upper-layers of the atmosphere. The working test of the radiometeorograph consisted in: connecting the radiometeorograph to a balloon full of gas lighter than the air and launching it to the sky. The firm achieved immediate success and was already the most important manufacturer of radiometeorograph in the world before the second world war. After the war, worldwide markets again opened up for Väisälä’s enterprise. In addition to radiometeorograph, Väisälä began producing other atmospheric observation devices and in accordance with his original principles, Vilho had a strong commitment to research right from the beginning. Therefore during the lifetime of its founder, Väisälä Oyi has attained several scientific and industrial acknowledgements.